{"id":4859,"date":"2024-11-08T07:09:00","date_gmt":"2024-11-08T12:09:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.biblegateway.com\/learn\/?p=4859"},"modified":"2025-07-29T16:54:02","modified_gmt":"2025-07-29T20:54:02","slug":"joy-in-hard-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.biblegateway.com\/learn\/voices\/joy-in-hard-times\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Have Joy in Hard Times"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Once, there was a big boat. There were precisely 276 people on board, and precisely 275 of them were freaking out. They knew the boat was going down. The storm was way too much.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They gave up hope entirely. \u201cWe\u2019re totally going to drown!\u201d they said. But then there was one guy who was totally calm. It wasn\u2019t the captain, or some other veteran sailor who\u2019d seen it all. No, all the salty professionals were freaking out too.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, you wonder: Was this calm guy an idiot? Couldn\u2019t he see the<\/em> obvious? <\/em>To not be anxious in the middle of all that, you\u2019d have to lack basic knowledge about how the world works, right?\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Turns out the guy\u2014Paul, in the Bible\u2014wasn\u2019t an idiot. He didn\u2019t lack knowledge. No, he was calm because he knew more <\/em>than everyone else on board. He told them the ship would go down but everyone would survive and be just fine. And so it did, and so they were. (It\u2019s in Acts 27\u201328<\/a>).\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I tell you this story because in our culture now it\u2019s kind of like we\u2019re all in a big boat, and everyone\u2019s freaking out. Anxiety and anger are so widespread that if you\u2019re not anxious and angry, people will suspect it\u2019s because you\u2019re willfully ignorant of all the Big Issues. You just don\u2019t know, or you don\u2019t care, because if you did, you\u2019d be just as scared and ticked off as they are.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Finding Joy in an Angry World<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019ve noticed people will get angry if I\u2019m not angry enough about the things they happen to be angry about. They think I don\u2019t care. Or they think I\u2019m naive at best. \u201cDon\u2019t you know about this crisis, and that injustice, and this other tragedy?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But then there it is, this joy thing, and I love how Dallas Willard<\/a> defined it: Joy is \u201cnot a passing sensation of pleasure, but a pervasive sense of well-being.\u201d1<\/a><\/sup> No matter what happens, that sense of well-being is there.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It might seem impossible or even crazy to live this way in a world of anger and anxiety. But I want you to know that it\u2019s possible. And not only that, I want you to know that joy is quite reasonable, in light of reality properly understood. Jesus kept showing His followers that too.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yes, horrible things happen. Yes, there is great evil in the world. But joy\u2014this sense of well-being\u2014doesn\u2019t come from knowing less. Joy comes from knowing more<\/em>.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Do You Believe What Jesus Believes?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

I believe we lack joy not because we now know too much but because we know too little.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Or we\u2019ve forgotten what we knew.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Think about it: Jesus basically said in John 16:33<\/a>, \u201cYes, I know you will have problems. I know. But here\u2019s some additional information that might interest you\u2014something I know but you don\u2019t . . .\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And then He told us to be of good cheer.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

God is quite aware of all the suffering and injustice, thank you; but if we believe what Jesus believes, we\u2019ll have a sense of well-being no matter what.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yes, pain is real. Suffering is real. But in Jesus\u2019 worldview, despair is not the deepest reality. We know it is a fleeting thing. It\u2019s joy that underpins everything. It\u2019s the deepest note that rings through our lives, even in tragedy.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We\u2019ll hurt, we\u2019ll cry, we\u2019ll go through tremendous loss. We might be deeply unhappy. And yet . . . His peace persists.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So yes, there is a \u201csecond naivete,\u201d a second simplicity<\/em>. It\u2019s an innocence and a beautiful, peaceful life we can live in light of what we can know.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Like, say, how this all ends.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n
\n
\"Cover<\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

Adapted from Life is Hard, God is Good, Let\u2019s Dance<\/em><\/a> <\/em>by Brant Hansen.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a modern culture filled with anxiety, depression, and societal clashes, it is not only possible to have a fulfilling, joyful life, but it\u2019s promised to all who follow Jesus. Life is hard, but God is good. And through Him we can start to see the world in a more childlike, humble, and optimistic way.<\/strong>\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Life is Hard, God is Good, Let\u2019s Dance is published by HarperCollins Christian Publishing, Inc., the parent company of Bible Gateway.\u00a0<\/em>\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n

  1. Dallas Willard, The Allure of Gentleness: Defending the Faith in the Manner of Jesus <\/em>(San Francisco: HarperOne, 2016), 31. \u21a9\ufe0e<\/a><\/li><\/ol>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Is it possible to have real joy in an angry, anxious world? Only if we know what Paul knows, and believe what Jesus believes.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":4861,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"[{\"content\":\"Dallas Willard, The Allure of Gentleness: Defending the Faith in the Manner of Jesus <\/em>(San Francisco: HarperOne, 2016), 31.\",\"id\":\"1204a089-4972-4236-af0e-283525783559\"}]"},"categories":[471,466,31],"tags":[206,281,231,71,282,70],"yoast_head":"\nHow to Have Joy in Hard Times | Bible Gateway News & Knowledge<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Is it possible to have real joy in an angry, anxious world? 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